1800’s Neighbouring Countries and trade partners were primarily responsible for increased percentages of child labour. It started with immigrants from Ireland in the 1840’s and progressed to southern and eastern Europe in the 1880’s. Many of these immigrants had the same attitude towards child labour, and brought a pool of children ready to be employed. Majority of child labour was to help their own family. Children would work long hours usually in agriculture and in handicraft jobs. The children of the immigrants were usually specialized in one job and had lots of experience in rural activities and farming. During this time children didn’t receive any formal education. The hours they worked did not allow any time for them to go to school. In Colonial america child labour was non negotiable. In most cases child labour was a necessity to keep the family alive. They would provide the basic materials needed to keep up a farm and food for the family. In the 18th century over 3.6% of the workforce was children. Which is actually quite a large percentage. Child Labour dramatically increased during the Industrial Revolution because children between the ages of 10-15 were able to complete jobs that adults weren’t. They would be placed in large factories or mines and would work in small spaces for up to 20 hours at a time. This was why Employers and companies liked to employ children because they could pass with receiving less than minimum wage. Check out this video on some of the key parts of child labour in the 1900s
1900’s In the 1900’s around 1.75 million children were employed in America. Earlier in the century 18% of the children were under 16 and later in the century 25% of child workers were under 15. Children were usually employed as apprentices and servants. But their size and age would usually be the deciding factor on where they were employed and what they would be doing. But the 19th century was the turning point for child labour. One of the first attempts to regulate or even eliminate child labour was in 1904 during the social reform. The National Child Labour Committee took many political actions to try and bring public awareness to the negative aspects of child labour. Their goal was to create some sort of economic or political development to reduce the desirability of child labour.
The social reform started in 1902 and continued to 1915. This happened through many american legislatures. Unfortunately the reform had many loopholes and gaps. For example if you were to own your own enterprise you were able to decide how much the child would work, and what they would be doing (usually family businesses). Labours tried to pass the Federal Child Labour Law, but supreme courts deemed it unconstitutional. Then in 1924 the Congress passed a constitutional law for child legislation. Unfortunately because of the political climate of the 1920’s and others opposed to ending child labour stopped states from ratifying it. Unlike the Industrial Revolution, The Great Depression changed political attitudes towards child labour for the better! Many codes were made under the National Industrial Recovery Act in favour of reducing child labour. Creation of minimum wages and max hours you could work slowly reduced child labour. And in 1938 the Fair Labour Standards Act was passed, prohibiting children under the age of 16 from working in mines and in any form of manufacturing. Basically they started to limit the extents of child labour. During the Great Depression employment options were at an all time low. This created a lot of hospitality towards child labour because of the high unemployment rates among adults. So in the 1930’s President Roosevelt created a series of programs that he called the New Deal . These programs focused on what historians refer to as the "3 Rs", Relief, Recovery, and Reform: relief for the unemployed and poor, recovery of the economy back to normal levels, and reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression. This was helpful to employ adults, not children and eventually machinery replaced children almost all together. To operate the machinery they needed a adult with higher education and ones that had the capability of running the machinery efficiently. Children lacked in those categories, so in 1949 the government made sure that the children were educated. Not just in jobs but also a kind of formal education. They did this through many amendments to the child labour law that was eventually passed.
In the 21st century child labour has significantly decreased. But in developing countries child labour is still very relevant. In the USA today child labour has basically been eliminated, but in developing countries, to have a relatively well functioning country, child labour is essential. Child Labour Laws says that a child must be 16 years old in order to obtain a job. They must also have a proof of employment signed by their employer that states that they in fact will be receiving a job and will be paid at least the minimum wage. If an employer is caught hiring a child that is younger than 16 and paying them less than the minimum wage, the employer may be held accountable for child labor. In most current cases children often work illegally to support their families, they are then paid “under the table”, which means they are paid in cash by the employer without notifying the government. Close to 6 million children work in the United States illegally. Many being immigrants working agriculture just to escape poverty in the US. Although the American government has done its best to reduce child labour, it unfortunately still exists. One of the main differences is the awareness of child labour. With social media being a primary form of global communication, issues such as child labour become publicly well known, This leads to programs like me to we taking actions to prevent child labour. Back in the 1800s to the early 1900s child labour was socially accepted and the children didn't have support groups or political programs to help them.
Walter Trattner. “Crusade for the Children: A History of the National Child Labour Committee and Child Labour Reform in America”. History. http://www.history.com/topics/child-labor
Neighbouring Countries and trade partners were primarily responsible for increased percentages of child labour. It started with immigrants from Ireland in the 1840’s and progressed to southern and eastern Europe in the 1880’s. Many of these immigrants had the same attitude towards child labour, and brought a pool of children ready to be employed. Majority of child labour was to help their own family. Children would work long hours usually in agriculture and in handicraft jobs. The children of the immigrants were usually specialized in one job and had lots of experience in rural activities and farming. During this time children didn’t receive any formal education. The hours they worked did not allow any time for them to go to school. In Colonial america child labour was non negotiable. In most cases child labour was a necessity to keep the family alive. They would provide the basic materials needed to keep up a farm and food for the family. In the 18th century over 3.6% of the workforce was children. Which is actually quite a large percentage. Child Labour dramatically increased during the Industrial Revolution because children between the ages of 10-15 were able to complete jobs that adults weren’t. They would be placed in large factories or mines and would work in small spaces for up to 20 hours at a time. This was why Employers and companies liked to employ children because they could pass with receiving less than minimum wage. Check out this video on some of the key parts of child labour in the 1900s
1900’s
In the 1900’s around 1.75 million children were employed in America. Earlier in the century 18% of the children were under 16 and later in the century 25% of child workers were under 15. Children were usually employed as apprentices and servants. But their size and age would usually be the deciding factor on where they were employed and what they would be doing. But the 19th century was the turning point for child labour. One of the first attempts to regulate or even eliminate child labour was in 1904 during the social reform. The National Child Labour Committee took many political actions to try and bring public awareness to the negative aspects of child labour. Their goal was to create some sort of economic or political development to reduce the desirability of child labour.
The social reform started in 1902 and continued to 1915. This happened through many american legislatures. Unfortunately the reform had many loopholes and gaps. For example if you were to own your own enterprise you were able to decide how much the child would work, and what they would be doing (usually family businesses). Labours tried to pass the Federal Child Labour Law, but supreme courts deemed it unconstitutional. Then in 1924 the Congress passed a constitutional law for child legislation. Unfortunately because of the political climate of the 1920’s and others opposed to ending child labour stopped states from ratifying it. Unlike the Industrial Revolution, The Great Depression changed political attitudes towards child labour for the better! Many codes were made under the National Industrial Recovery Act in favour of reducing child labour. Creation of minimum wages and max hours you could work slowly reduced child labour. And in 1938 the Fair Labour Standards Act was passed, prohibiting children under the age of 16 from working in mines and in any form of manufacturing. Basically they started to limit the extents of child labour. During the Great Depression employment options were at an all time low. This created a lot of hospitality towards child labour because of the high unemployment rates among adults. So in the 1930’s President Roosevelt created a series of programs that he called the New Deal . These programs focused on what historians refer to as the "3 Rs", Relief, Recovery, and Reform: relief for the unemployed and poor, recovery of the economy back to normal levels, and reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression. This was helpful to employ adults, not children and eventually machinery replaced children almost all together. To operate the machinery they needed a adult with higher education and ones that had the capability of running the machinery efficiently. Children lacked in those categories, so in 1949 the government made sure that the children were educated. Not just in jobs but also a kind of formal education. They did this through many amendments to the child labour law that was eventually passed.
In the 21st century child labour has significantly decreased. But in developing countries child labour is still very relevant. In the USA today child labour has basically been eliminated, but in developing countries, to have a relatively well functioning country, child labour is essential. Child Labour Laws says that a child must be 16 years old in order to obtain a job. They must also have a proof of employment signed by their employer that states that they in fact will be receiving a job and will be paid at least the minimum wage. If an employer is caught hiring a child that is younger than 16 and paying them less than the minimum wage, the employer may be held accountable for child labor. In most current cases children often work illegally to support their families, they are then paid “under the table”, which means they are paid in cash by the employer without notifying the government. Close to 6 million children work in the United States illegally. Many being immigrants working agriculture just to escape poverty in the US. Although the American government has done its best to reduce child labour, it unfortunately still exists. One of the main differences is the awareness of child labour. With social media being a primary form of global communication, issues such as child labour become publicly well known, This leads to programs like me to we taking actions to prevent child labour. Back in the 1800s to the early 1900s child labour was socially accepted and the children didn't have support groups or political programs to help them.
Bibliography
Department of Labor. “Youth and Labor” United States Department of Labour. Accessed 11/13/2017. __https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/youthlabor__
Walter Trattner. “Crusade for the Children: A History of the National Child Labour Committee and Child Labour Reform in America”. History. http://www.history.com/topics/child-labor
Lau, Annabel. Wang, Austin. Miller, Benjamin. Li, Sida. “Child Labour Today”. Labour Awareness. Accessed 11/13/2017. https://laborawareness.wordpress.com/child-labor-today/
Yellowitz, Irwin. “CHild Labour” History Channel. Accessed 11/13/2017. http://www.history.com/topics/child-labor